Research Proposal

Jake Stryker


Laura Darrow/Eng 102

7/16/10

Essay topic proposal

I am going to compare the roles of women in three 20th century dystopian novels: Atwood’ The Handmaid’s Tale , Huxley’s Brave New World and Orwell’s 1984. There are three female protagonists between the books, and they all have their differences. This is due to the different natures of the separate dystopian societies, and therefore must be a byproduct of the times the writers came from. I will do research on the world events around the times each novel was written.

By researching actual historical events I believe I can better understand why Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale, and why Huxley and Orwell wrote their dystopian literature as well. I should be able to find out by looking at significant world events and the powerful societies of the age why the roles of women in the novels are such a way. The 20th century was full of writers who must have had a worry about terrible times lying ahead, and I want to know why, and how that contributed to their envisioned dystopias. Margaret Atwood is the only female writer of the three, and that may have something to do with the differences between the role of women in the three novels.



1984

Brave New World

The Handmaid's Tale